County Rejects All Bids For Libraries

SANFORD — Seminole County commissioners decided this week to reject all bids for construction of the first two new library branches because they exceeded the budgeted amount.

Instead, the county will try to negotiate a lower price with the lowest bidder on the two-building project by calling for less-expensive materials and asking the contractor to trim its profit.

Kaco Contracting Co. of Winter Garden was the lowest bidder for the job of building library branches in Sanford and Oviedo. However, the company's bid of $1,886,670 for both buildings was more than $386,000 over the county's $1.5 million budget for the work.

Commissioners agreed Tuesday with a proposal by county staffers to negotiate with Kaco to see if at least $200,000 can be cut from the bid amount by using a less-expensive roofing material and by substituting stucco or a different kind of brick for the more costly no-maintenance brick that had been planned for the facade.

The county also hopes to persuade the builder to scale down the profit margin in order to win the job.

If bargaining with Kaco is unsuccessful, the county would then negotiate with the second-lowest bidder, Ruby Builders Inc. If negotiations fall through altogether, new bids might be sought on the project, County Administrator Ken Hooper said Wednesday.

The schedule for library construction calls for work to start on the first two branches next month with completion expected next August and opening set for two months after that.

Construction of the main library in Casselberry is scheduled to start next May and should take a year. The other two branches in Lake Mary and the Wekiva area also are scheduled to be finished in May 1988.

County commissioners are expected next month to approve the use of a donated 3-acre site at Hunt Club Boulevard and Needles Trail for the Wekiva branch even though some residents there are worried about more traffic through their neighborhood.

The commission this week also agreed to buy $100,000 worth of books during the next budget year, many of which will be stockpiled for the new branches. Money for the books is coming from the county's general fund -- rather than from the voter-approved $7 million bond issue, as county officials had said in 1982 it would -- because construction costs have risen in the four years since the bond referendum was okayed.

Now, funds from proposed impact fees for library services are scheduled to be used to buy books and other materials for the libraries.